A 21-YEAR-OLD from the Borders - whose mother gave the gift of sight to three people after she died – has helped to establish a campaign to encourage young people to learn more about organ donation.

Jared Munro, from Galashiels, tragically lost his mother Holly, who had a serious asthma condition, just over two years ago. His family made the decision to donate her eyes following her death.

With a group of students at Borders College, Jared joined forces with Fixers, the national charity that supports young people aged 16-25 to tackle any issue that matters to them, however they choose.

A report about Jared’s group’s Fixers campaign will feature on ITV News Lookaround on Thursday, February 6, from 6pm.

“It was more or less my dad’s decision to donate my mum’s eyes but he still consulted with me and my little brother,” said Jared. “If she didn’t need them and someone else did, why not? In my head I imagined a mum being able to see her daughter for the first time and that was a nice thought.” The group are still in the early stages of their campaign, and are considering possibly making a short film or devising a poster campaign to raise awareness of organ donation amongst young people.

“I don’t think a lot of people – and especially younger people – understand the process of organ donation,” said Jared. “Because they don’t understand the process, it puts them off.

“If the worst was to happen and someone died, if they donate their organs it means that even though their life is wasted, someone else’s isn’t. It can save someone else’s life.” Around 20 people in the Borders and Cumbria region received a transplant between April and December last year, while 78 people remained on a waiting list.

Nationally, more than 7,000 people across the UK are currently waiting for an organ donation.

“Death is a taboo subject in this country,” said Irene Young, a specialist organ donation nurse based in the Borders region. It is not often discussed in families and that therefore makes organ donation difficult to bring up.” Fixers works with young people across the UK. Each Fixer is supported by the charity’s team of in-house team of creative professionals to produce a resource to get their chosen message across. Many young people choose to create a short film, website, poster campaign, information leaflet, or hold an event or flashmob.

Fixers has already supported more than 11,000 young people across the UK to have an authentic voice in their community.

Young people have campaigned on issues with Fixers as diverse as cyber-bullying, self-harm, suicide and the need for more random acts of kindness.

Fixers aims to work with over 70,000 young people aged 16 to 25 by 2020 to help them to take action and tackle the issues they feel strongly about. Visit www.fixers.org.uk for more information.